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About Grass Mountain

About Grass Mountain

View from the Grass Mountain House

In June 2017 Sitka acquired Grass Mountain, an 80-acre property within the Cascade Head Scenic Research Area. About a mile from the existing Sitka location, Grass Mountain will operate as a programmatically integrated second site. Over time Sitka will experiment with new ideas and be actively engaged in the stweardship of this inspiring nd remote property.

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For hundreds of years the only settlements near Cascade Head and the Salmon River were the villages of the indigenous peoples. In the 1870s white settlers began to arrive. by 1900, the area was being homesteaded for the grazing of cattle, the growing of crops and the cultivation of timber.

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That's what brought Nettie Long to Cascade Head. In 1905 at the age of 17 she came to the Oregon Coast and staked a claim to 160 acres. After her husband Bert Walls passed away she lived on the land for 60 years with her only son. They would call the property Grass Mountain because of its open meadows, a name also used to describe Cascade Head itself. Nettie died in 1965, five years before the Sitka Center was even founded. Over the next 40 years Nettie's son, Bob Walls, cultivated timber as Sitka grew and flourished only a mile away. When Bob died in 2011 his family had farmed that land for more than 100 years.

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What does the futurehold for Grass Mountain? Sitka has existed at Cascade Head since 1970 with a reverence for its histories, ecology, and cultures. As we become stewards of Grass Mountain we honor those who loved the land before us - the indigenous people, Nettie Long, Bob and Arlene Walls. To share these stories and the land with future generations, in the coming years Sitka will thoughtfully develop prorgams at Grass Mountain that promote stewardship and deepen an understanding of ecology through art, science, and attention to this remarkable place.

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Sitka wishes to thank the small group of incredibly generous donors who made this acquisition possible. We also wish to acknowledge the patience, generosity, and creative vision of Sitka's founders, Frank and Jane Boyden, and the gift of time and talent by many members of Sitka's board and community that shepherded this acquisition from vision into reality.

If you would like to participate in supporting Sitka's operation of Grass Mountain, please consider making a donation today! Click Here to Donate